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Monday, May 23, 2011

Autopsy confirms body found in Chicago River is model Irma Sabanovic

Autopsy confirms body found in Chicago River is model Irma SabanovicIsabelle Zehnder

COOK COUNTY, Illinois (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- An autopsy report released Sunday confirms the body found in the Chicago River Saturday belongs to model and college student Irma Sabanovic.

The last time 25-year-old Irma was seen was when she was leaving her home on May 12 with the intention of going to a nightclub "The Exit" at West North and North Elston Avenues and allegedly got lost.

A missing persons alert from Belmont Area detectives was issued on May 16.

The autopsy report indicates Irma drowned but was not able to determine the manner of death, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Sabavonic was dead on the scene Saturday inside her submerged vehicle in the river near 1400 W Blackhawk Street, according to the medical examiner's office.

Cranes were used to pull the car out of the river near North Elston Avenue and West Blackhawk Street, Shakespeare District Police Lt. Michael Mulkerin said.

“The car surfaced. It was a blue Ford Focus,”according to the lieutenant, who said he was notified Saturday at 12:15 p.m.

It was a sad and solemn day for her friends and family who had so desparately hoped for a different outcome. Irma was an immigrant from Bosnia and a full-time college student and model.

Her friends and family had plastered the local areas with missing persons' fliers in hopes of finding her. A Facebook page was also created to try to help find her.

“We were hoping to find a better result than we found today,” said Evelina Mehanovic, who had attended Mather High School with Sabanovic and created the Facebook page, which had raised just under $15,000 in donations toward the search ever since the woman went missing.

“I’m very sad and very confused,” said Mehanovic, as she waited at the river’s edge for the car to be pulled up.

At around 2 a.m. on May 12, Irma texted a male friend telling him she was lost near North Milwaukee Avenue and West Erie Street. That was the last communication anyone had from Sabanovic, the missing persons alert said.

“Its the first time anything like this has happened to any one of us who came here after the war. It’s very sad,” said another woman at the scene, Safa Sabanovic, (no relation), who didn’t know the missing woman but had helped in the search. “We all are lost and don’t know what went down.”

Police say Irma's car was discovered Saturday after the Chicago Police Marine Unit picked up a sonar signal indicating an object in the river at that location.